Ratings & Reviews

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Features

Connect via Class 1 Bluetooth to your device for wireless listening

The award-winning sound and design you've come to love from Beats

Up to 40 hours of battery life for multiday use

With fast fuel, a 5-minute charge gives you 3 hours of playback when the battery is low

Adjustable fit with comfort-cushioned ear cups made for everyday use

A sleek, streamlined design that's durable and foldable to go everywhere you do

Take calls, control your music, and activate Siri with multifunction on-ear controls

Alright sound quality, great wireless performance

Let's get this out of the way: Beats (now owned by Apple) isn't going to win any awards when it comes to sound quality. That's not to say that these are bad but they definitely provide a sculpted, bass boosted sound signature that purists will frown upon. Personally, I enjoy the sound quality but wish there was a little more detail in the highs. The lows and mids come through quite nicely but the highs need a little work. They don't sound nearly as muddy as the older generation of Beats products. They do sound the same as the Solo 2 wireless headphones that preceded them. So, if you liked those, you'll like these. Rap, hip-hop, EDM, radio rock, dance, electronics, and pop music all benefit from the sculpted sound signature that these provide. Metal sounds OK but it would benefit from having the mids set back a little while turning up the highs. Some of the drums (mainly the cymbals and hi-hats) lose their detail with these. It's still very listenable but would benefit from more detail in the highs.
I purchased the rose gold Solo3's for myself. I was initially worried that the color would be too pink but, in reality, it's actually more of a copper-brown color. I'm really enjoying the rose gold, these are some of the most stylish headphones I have ever used. I just hope that the white portions can keep their color and don't become dirty over time.
The Solo3's have controls built into the left ear cup so that you can play/pause music, skip tracks or go back, fast forward and rewind, and bring up Siri or the Google assistant. The controls work nicely and I didn't have any issues with my iPhone 7 Plus or my Surface Pro 4. I do wish that the center button would bring up Cortana in Windows 10. I do like that the controls are sleek and hidden, you wouldn't even know they were built into the left earcup. I think it's a better option than what Sony, Sennheiser, V-Moda, Bose, and pretty much everyone else does (they normally have physical buttons on the sides of the earcups).
Pairing with my iPhone 7 Plus was simple and easy. I simply turned the headphones on near my iPhone and they were automatically detected. I was able to pair them with my Surface Pro 4 but I had to follow the standard procedure. The W1 Bluetooth chip that Apple uses in the Solo3's provides a very solid experience. The range that it provides is unmatched by any other wireless headphone that I've used (I've probably gone through 25 different ones). I can have music playing on either my iPhone 7 Plus or my Surface Pro 4 and the headphones will work, flawlessly, all over my house and even outdoors. I was able to mow my lawn while listening to music on my Surface without the connection dropping out. That is really impressive and I have never experienced a pair of Bluetooth headphones with this kind of signal strength. My Apple Watch doesn't interfere with my iPhone either. I have used a couple of headphones where my Apple Watch would cause issues but not these. Apple really hit it out of the park when it comes to wireless connectivity.
The Solo3's also have stellar battery life. I routinely get over 40 hours per charge out of mine. I normally listen to music 2 hours a day during the weekdays and I can easily get 5 weeks of use before I have to plug them in. That's not a big deal either. Normally, with wireless headphones, you would have to plug them in for a good 30-60 minutes before you would fill them enough to get you through a couple of hours. Not anymore. A 5-minute charge will get you a good 3 hours of playback, a 2 hour charge will completely fill these. That is truly impressive and beats every other wireless headphone on the market. Granted, these don't have noise cancellation and are on-ear instead of over-the-ear headphones. Still, it's rather impressive to go a whole month without worrying about recharging my headphones.
Lastly, there's the comfort. A lot of people complain about these headphones saying that they aren't very comfortable and I guess they're right. At the same time, I haven't found any on-ear pair of headphones that are actually comfortable. Either they grip your ears tight and stay on or they are too loose and fall off, you can't have both. I had a pair of Bose SoundLink II on-ear headphones and they could never stay on. They were light but never gripped my head enough so the slightest of motions would send them off my head.
The Solo3 headphones are the complete opposite. These securely stay on my head without issues. To me, this is fine and I would rather have on-ear headphones like this that stay put instead of adjusting my headphones every few minutes because they're slipping off. There's ample padding around the earcups and, honestly, I don't have any comfort issues. I am able to wear these for hours on end without taking a break. I'm not sure if my ears are just not physically sensitive, if I have a higher threshold for pain, or if reviewers are just being picky. These definitely don't clamp down on my ears like the Sol-Republic wireless headphones did, those would get uncomfortable to the point where I had to take them off every couple of hours. My only real complaint regarding the comfort is that my ears hurt while wearing these with sunglasses. That's the norm, for me, with on-ear headphones and one reason why I prefer earbuds.
The Solo3's represent the first Apple-influenced headphones from Beats. Apple didn't change the design or the sound, both of which I was already a fan of with the Solo 2 wireless headphones. Instead they upgraded the internals of these headphones by using Apple's own W1 Bluetooth chip, which drastically increases efficiency and wireless range, and a slightly larger battery. I am surprised that Apple didn't switch these over to Lightning from micro-USB but I'm sure Android smartphone users are fine with that. These have a class-leading wireless range along with truly excellent battery life. The sound signature isn't for purists but these are fun to listen to. Bass is definitely boosted while the detail in the highs takes a backseat.
I'm not sure if these are worth the $299 retail. At that price, I feel like you're only paying for the solid wireless technology along with the battery life. However, at Best Buy's sale price ($250), I think these are well worth it. My favorite color is the rose gold. It feels a little awkward listening to a band like Lamb of God through rose gold headphones but it works, the color doesn't affect the sound quality. My wife likes her standard gold pair of Solo3 headphones.

I would recommend this to a friend

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Aloesees

Verified Purchase

Elite Member

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

5

These are my new headphones for everything!

I'm somewhat of a headphone connoisseur. I own a staggering six pair of premium-quality Bluetooth headphones that I've purchased since 2014, all of them supporting at least Bluetooth 4.0. So when I give a recommendation stating that I'm now using a pair of Bluetooth headphones exclusively and the rest are gathering dust, that has to mean something.
First of all, let me get this out of the way: I use Bluetooth headphones excessively and for a variety of purposes. I am wearing them for about 8 to 10 hours per day on weekdays, and 12 to 16 hours on weekends. I detached myself permanently from headphone wires in about 2012 and have been looking for better and better headphones ever since.
The main things I look for in a pair of Bluetooth headphones are: portability; durability; ease of pairing to all my devices and switching between devices; signal strength and reliability over moderate distances; and of course, audio quality. I also care about the little quality of life things, like the absence of loud and irritating "pop" noises when the headphones switch from actively playing audio to standby mode, and the ability for the headphones to drown out at least some of the background noise for activities like public transportation commuting and trying to work in a busy office.
In almost all categories, the Beats Solo3 Wireless are as good or better than the competition, even though they only cost half as much as I usually pay for high-end Bluetooth headphones (I usually pay around $500).
Most of what makes these headphones amazing originates from their Apple W1 Bluetooth chipset. This chip has an incredible ability to instantly and effortlessly pair between my different Apple and non-Apple devices, and switching between them is easier than it is with any other pair of Bluetooth headphones I've ever owned. This is insanely important for me, because I use them with my iPhone for phone calls, my Macbook Pro and Alienware laptop for listening to music and gaming, my iPad for watching videos, and my desktop's Bluetooth receiver for gaming. I think I switch between Bluetooth devices about 6 times a day, and I have to constantly fight and struggle and re-pair and unpair, etc. sometimes for minutes at a time to switch devices with any other pair of headphones.... except for these special headphones.
Bluetooth is supposed to be an open standard where all the vendors participate and can get equal access to making their headphones compatible with computing devices like phones, tablets and computers. But in reality, it appears that Apple and Beats have cornered the market on producing headphones that are maximally compatible, reliable, and easy to pair and switch around. And I say that as someone who extensively uses my Beats headphones with NON-Apple devices, such as Windows PCs!
I don't know how to put it differently: these are simply awesome. The audio quality is fine; I think the audio quality isn't noticeably worse than my $500 Beoplay headphones. And while there's no Active Noise Cancelling (which I DO appreciate on my Beoplay pair), I've learned to live without it: I'm slightly more aware of my environment without ANC, which can actually be a good thing, and the passive canceling on these is pretty good for those annoyingly loud noises in the environment, most of the time.
Oh, and as far as range and dropouts? I often leave my iDevices or PCs sitting on my desk and move across the hallway, into the bathroom while listening to a podcast or video, and I've never once heard a single dropout with any of my devices. I can't claim the same flawless experience with competition from Beoplay or Sennheiser or Meelectronics.
I really can't praise these headphones enough. The only thing I would like to see done differently in a subsequent release would be a sturdier, less plastic, more premium materials type design, maybe some of that magnesium alloy they use to build the sturdy chassis of ThinkPads. Or maybe the aluminum that they use to build iPhones. That would be awesome.
I feel like I have to treat my Beats very gently or they're liable to fall apart. So durability is definitely a concern long-term. But as long as they last, I'll definitely enjoy the electronic internals of these headphones being as close to perfection as I've ever seen in a pair of wireless headphones that is compatible with a wide array of devices.
Oh, and it helps that the battery life is basically the best on the market for any kind of Bluetooth headphones based on my research. Other vendors have tied Beats in expected battery life, but none have exceeded them by any significant margin. So if you don't like having to charge your headphones daily, these are one of maybe 3 or 4 different models of headphones that you can buy today with that kind of insane battery life.
Just a short couple of years ago, I had a perception of Beats as a brand that was completely out of touch with what consumers wanted, offering anemically low battery life around 8 hours, with out of date Bluetooth protocol support, poor codec support, and limited compatibility. This product is the polar opposite of that in every way, and I couldn't possibly be happier. My quality of life is a little bit better each and every day because of this product, and I like them so much that I bought a second pair for use exclusively at work, so I don't have to risk damaging my Beats in transit.

I would recommend this to a friend

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Jasonmwa

Verified Purchase

Elite Member

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4

Upgraded, pleasantly surprised

Beats are products that people will either love or hate. Beyond all that I have enjoyed the products by Dre I've used. Heavy bass but over priced, in my opinion. That is why I only try out products placed on sale. Mind you, that's on sale and not refurbished. I've had a set of Solo2 wired headphones and wanted to go wireless. This set, in this color became ridiculously cheap (comparatively) and I didn't mind the color so I got them. I'm so glad I did!
First, not surprising, the sound is basically the same between wired and wireless. It's the other features that make them amazing. Second, that range! While wearing these around the house I have lost my phone because the bluetooth range had me all over that I forgot where last I had my phone. My favorite feature is that, since Beats is a subsidiary of Apple the products are so integrated into the ecosystem. I set up these headphones on my phone and immediately every Mac, iPad, Apple device I have is also paired with them. All it takes is a quick click from a menu and the headphones switch from one device to another. Super easy and cool. Equally as amazing is the battery life. I have been using a set of Powerbeats which are so small and compact meaning only as much battery as could be fit in. These being larger there's more stored power. I have gone days without charging these, probably a third less than the Powerbeats (which weren't bad in the first place). There's a cable to use these as a wired set if the juice runs out but I don't think I've used it once. The worst part is that one may forget they even need to be charged. Microphone picks up voice well when on a call or using Siri. When I bought the Solo2 wired set I was not ecstatic with the purchase. These, I have no buyers remorse.
There are a few caveats though. There are no skip or back buttons to control music. That was a let down. The worst I've experienced though is that they feel plastic cheap, particularly when tapping the button to pause/play and enable Siri. It's on the cup and right next to your ear. There's just a cheap click heard that ruins the overall high end experience.
What I have found with the Beats brand is that if you're not stuck on a particular color you can find a set for a great price from time to time. These are my best purchase yet. Wireless is definitely the best way to go.

I would recommend this to a friend

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Hydrated

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

5

Grown up sound and great wireless

I have to make an admission up front: I am a Bose fan. Headphones... earbuds... portable speakers... mine usually has a Bose nameplate on it.
I have avoided buying Beats products for years because of the Beats snobbery that I developed in the early days of Beats headphones. They had a reputation for boomy overdone bass and a popularity with listeners who are young enough to be my grandchildren.
Then I tried the Beats Solo 3.
These have a much more grown up sound than I ever expected from a Beats product. They sound great... maybe not for a "critical" listener, but I think that's overblown anyway. I love clear crisp sound, but I'm not going to be ridiculously demanding.
But that W1 wireless chip! OMG is that thing going to change the Bluetooth market! I can almost guarantee that it will change the way that you listen to your music. The low power consumption, range, and connection stability are so far above anything else on the market that I'd bet the competition is scrambling to catch up.
I routinely leave my iPhone plugged into the charger in my house while I roam around doing things inside. I have gotten accustomed to positioning myself so that the Bluetooth radio faces the phone, otherwise the music drops out or stutters when I get very far away. But the Solo 3's never falter until you get far far away from them. In fact, I forgot that I was wearing them and walked outside to get the mail... and got sidetracked with something in my yard. I had walked to the far end of the yard before I realized that I was still listening to music streaming from my phone inside the house... easily 150-200 feet away!
And I was skeptical about the claim of 40 hours on a battery charge. I haven't run them dry yet, but I did listen all day at work and after 6 solid hours of listening the battery meter on my iPhone reported that they'd gone from 100% down to 91% charged. My doubts are lessening. I haven't used the Fast Fuel feature yet, but the claim is that a 5 minute charge will give you 3 hours of listening time. If that's true, that's a huge benefit.
So with the grown up sound and great W1 wireless chipset features... maybe I'm not such a Bose fanboy any more.

I would recommend this to a friend

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JoeKilpatrick

Verified Purchase

Elite Member

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

5

Beats Solo 3

While Beats bashing is prevalent on YouTube and the web, most of that comes from when the were made by Monster previous to the Apple purchase, Course their third offering is completely different under the hood. And found them to sound better or equal in Sound quality and certainly louder if that is your preference. One of the top headphones made by Sennheiser sound a little better but less volume 20-30% less IMO. And those list for 399.00. I bought them discounted but have less Bluetooth range than the Beats due to Apples W1 chip which is exclusive to Apple by a patent. Bose suffers the same issue of low Bass and lower volumes and are considered a flat signature I bought the Solo 3 at Best Buy after Black Friday for 50% off. Because the are on the ear they are not as comfortable after a break in period they become better but not to the level of Bose or Sennheisers or Sony which also suffers from lower sound levels. I am 63 and dont listen at ear damaging levels. But some music you get of the web is recorded at lower levels and need more amplification. I Sam not hard of hearing so not an issue. The Beats at the price I bought at Best Buy made it couldn’t pass it up. So I had to clamp them around a cardboard Box to loose up the headband for less clamping pressure, I have an average sized head and Ears, so if You have a small head or a child they will probably be just fine. I just purchased the Studio 3 version with noise canceling and the are over the ear instead of on the ear that will aid in comfort. But headphone comfort is very subjective for obvious reason. Jus make sure you buy them on sale, Because the Bose are the King of comfort, Also found at Best Buy for around 350.00. But Best Buy’s policy cant be beat...you can take them back.

I would recommend this to a friend

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JoshW

Elite Member

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4

I never thought I'd become a Beats fan.

I was not a big fan of Beats back when they first came on the scene, because they just have an overwhelming amount of bass - so I believed everyone else on the internet when they said they hadn't really changed - until I saw the 90th anniversary Mickey Mouse edition released.
We are HUGE Disney fans, so I naturally kicked around having to try them. I went to the store and tried on the Beats Solo3 Wireless so many times and decided that they actually sound pretty good, but I was still torn - until my Fiancé surprised me with them for an early Valentines' day gift because she knew I'd been kicking them around.
They haven't left my ears since - seriously. I've worn them all week at my desk. I've used them for meetings, music, phone calls, you name it. 4 days in and we're still on 50% battery life.
They are extremely FUN to listen to. I know they're not reference quality, but I really enjoy the sound signature on these for almost everything I listen to.
My only complaint is that they make my ears a bit sore and I have to give them a rest every few hours, but I"m slowly getting used to them - I've never had on-ear headphones before.
I used to use Bose QC35, exclusively, and those haven't left my bag since I got these - they might come out for travel, but after the fun sound of these, it's hard to use anything else.
Nice work on these, Apple. Impressive battery life, decent, fun sound, and an awesome Mickey Mouse design. Really enjoying them!

I would recommend this to a friend

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Tank2278

Verified Purchase

Elite Member

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

2

new, clearer sound, but not worth the price tag

I wanted Beats since they came out, but they've always been pricey. I got an Apple Watch to run with and I hate in ear because they always lose the seal, which loses the bass (I tried a lot). I loved my old Sol Tracks, which were in line with the old Beats Solo, but cheaper. I wanted the Sol Tracks Air, but the Air model was discontinued after Sol was bought out. Then I found the Beats Solo3 Wireless on sale! I bought them and was immediately disappointed. It seems Beats has finally caved to the constant self absorbed professional whiners that Bose is better, so they dropped the bass and made everything super crisp and clear - too much so, I'm afraid - rap, hip hop and dance don't sound right to me, and the "equalizer" is almost flat with a slight lean toward treble. It was hard to hear the once famous bass from this brand on a lot of songs I loved, especially at lower volumes. The wireless pairing was awesome, but I had a lot of trouble turning them off. I had to look up how to turn them off to be sure I was trying to do it right (I was), and then I had to look up how to reset them to turn them off! This happened a lot. They bounced a little when I ran. The band is heavy, so when I did anything at the gym that wasn't vertical, they were sliding back and forth. When I was mowing the lawn, they fell off! These would definitely be worth a shot for the self proclaimed audiophiles who never made their own music of any kind, but they aren't for active listeners. Also note, they took a light drop and not only did the finish scratch, but the housing lost a large chip, much like an unprotected iPhone, but these do not have a case option for wearing around like the iPhone. For $300 ($220 on sale when I tried them) I expect a headphone I can do anything with for years, not just wear at a desk! Why else would you buy a wireless headset? After trying a few more brands, I bought a discontinued pair of Sol Tracks Air online and I like the full sound with constant tones at any volume with any genre.

No, I would not recommend this to a friend

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GlennG

Elite Plus Member

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4

Great Headphones

Just to be clear I am over 40 and close to 50 and I am not a regular listener of Rap/ Hip hop. I do listen to EDM regularly though. I had originally thought to upgrade my Bose QC 15 Headphones to the Bose QC 35. I ordered them and picked them up. On my way to pick them up I figured I would go to the sample area and give them a listen after all no commitment until I pick them up. They essentially sounded the same as my QC15 headphones, maybe a little more depth to the sound which is a good thing. After I picked up my QC35 headphones I wandered over the Beats Area smirked and put on the Solo 3 Wireless. I was surprised how great they really sounded. They had a bass punch that the Bose lacked. I am far from a bass head but I do enjoy the punch. I will say that some of the mids do get muddy but just a bit, but not terrible. Plus, on sale they were $100 cheaper, so I took a chance and exchanged them, I figured I can bring them back if I don't like them. Pairing was super easy with iOS, the phone asks if you want to pair then pairs then transfers that pairing to all iOS and Mac devices. The range on these things is also unreal, as is I am told the battery life (just got them so I don't know yet). I am not sure if the QC 35 is better than the Solo 3 wireless, but I know it isn't $100 better.

What experts are saying

Rating: 3.8 out of 5 stars with 17 reviews

3.8 (17 Reviews)

The analysis of all aggregated expert reviews shows that the reviewers are positive about mids quality, noise isolation, design and sound. Editors are less positive about treble quality and price and have mixed opinions about reliability. Using an algorithm based on product age, reviewers ratings history, popularity, product category expertise and other factors, this product gets an alaTest Expert Rating of 89/100 = Very good quality.

If you want to condense Apple's 2016 down to a pithy mission statement, it's this: war on wires. Along with the traditional spec upgrades of iPhones and MacBooks, the Cupertino company this yearFull Review

Best answer: I am not sure the exact distance but I live in a 1500 sq ft house and I will contact them to my phone and leave the phone in my room on the charger and walk all around the house and out into the back yard and they work fine.